Tell the Wind and Fire(18)

“You torment mortals with dumb sexual innuendo?”

“I’m also a teenage boy. You work with what you have.”

I went to another painted-black chair on my side of the room. I removed the small cushion, which was covered in beads for maximum discomfort, and sat on the chair cross-legged.

“You can’t torment me,” I said. “Not unless you try a lot harder than you currently are. You did something good for me instead.”

“Weren’t you listening to Ethan back on the train? I did something self-serving and cynical that only coincidentally benefited you.”

“Weren’t you listening to me back on the train? You did something good for me: I don’t really care what your reasons were. I haven’t had so many good things happen to me that I’m going to quibble, and I don’t care how much you try to insult me. Because I’m not going to listen.”

I leaned my weight against my drawn-up legs, fingers laced in the ties of my shoes, and met Carwyn’s gaze straight on. I couldn’t tell if it was challenging or suspicious, hateful or simply curious, but it didn’t matter what he thought of me, not really. It didn’t matter what he felt about me, if he could feel anything at all: my mother would have said he could, and the whole Light city would have told me it was impossible. None of that mattered. What mattered was that I had come to this hotel to do whatever I could for him.

Carwyn was silent for a while. I stretched my legs out, and curled my fingers around the arms of the chair.

I started a little when Carwyn kicked the side of my shoe with his own. When I looked up, he was smiling a bit: a small and not entirely reassuring grin, nothing like Ethan’s, but it looked genuine nonetheless.

“So,” said Carwyn. “Charades?”

“Ethan said they gave you money,” I told him. “And that you’re set to stay here for a week and you have a pass. Is there anything else that you want? Is there anything else I can do for you?”

The doppelganger hesitated.

“Come on, Carwyn,” I added. “I dare you not to be predictable.”

“Well,” said Carwyn, “I’m a growing avatar of darkness, and I’ve been waiting for room service a suspiciously long time. Like, two hours. I’m wondering what to do about it.”

He didn’t need to say any more. I’d seen doppelgangers in the Dark city not being served in shops and cafés, until they slunk away. The best way to encourage doppelgangers not to linger was not to make a fuss but simply not provide what they needed.

I could have called Ethan—even if I didn’t want to make up with Ethan at that moment, I could have called Ethan’s dad or his uncle—and demanded that they sort out the situation with the hotel. It was in their best interests to keep Carwyn quiet and content.

I intended to do just that, but I remembered something, suddenly, about my mom, and it made me smile. Whenever anything like that happened in front of her, my mom would always order whatever it was the doppelganger had asked for herself, then hand it over.

I thought that it would cost me nothing to be kind and mean it, just this once. To be like my mother, just for one night.

“You said you wanted to see the Light city,” I said slowly. “Let’s go out and see some of it. I can show you around, and we can grab something to eat as we go. My treat.”

Carwyn put his head to one side. I wasn’t sure if he was assessing the sincerity of my offer or simply weighing the amount of fun he could have getting pot stickers in the Village with me versus checking out what the hotel cable television had to offer.

“All right, golden girl,” he said slowly, “lead me to the light.”





CHAPTER FIVE



It was clear even before we reached the street that I had made another terrible mistake.

Carwyn had put up his hood before we left the hotel room, and we got a judgmental stare from the receptionist as we walked out. Matters only got worse from there.

We took the subway to the restaurant I’d decided on. It was only a few stops, but that was long enough. One woman who had seemed sleepy a moment before we stepped onto the train, her kid resting his sticky face against her shimmering Light-reinforced raincoat, went rigid as soon as she saw Carwyn. She stood vibrating with distress by the doors and exited, making for the next car, at the next stop. Other people were less obtrusive, melting away off the seats and through the doors or into the corner.

One guy in pink suspenders, who I thought might be trying to impress a beringed woman whose shoes were twined with Light magic so the spike heels became small bright towers that would not hurt her feet, stayed where he was. He sat only one seat away from Carwyn. The bright-shod woman watched Carwyn with obvious apprehension. The man in suspenders, I saw, was pretending to be nonchalant, and playing a hand-held game. He was a lousy actor. We could all see his shaking hands.

Carwyn shifted, and the guy dropped the game with a clatter and a flash of light that blinked out like a tiny supernova. He stared, and from under Carwyn’s hood came a soft, sinister sound, something like a hiss, and Carwyn’s pale fingers went creeping over the empty seat.

The guy made a low sound in the back of his throat and slid hastily along the row of slick orange plastic seats until he was at the other end of the car. I leaned over and rapped Carwyn’s hand with my knuckles, making sure my rings were involved so it would smart.